LAPLACE, La. (WGNO) — The town of Laplace in St. John the Baptist Parish was one of the hardest communities hit by Hurricane Ida in Southeast Louisiana on Sunday. WGNO could spend the next month there and still not tell the whole story of the damage done by the category 4 hurricane.
“As you can see we got a lot of roof damage, the inside in my son’s room the ceiling fell, the back porch I have a back patio and it pulled away from the house,” said resident Jada Harris.
Like most of her Sugar Ridge neighbor’s Jada Harris had learned lessons from weathering Hurricane Ida.
“I will never stay again,” explained Harris. “I had my mom, my grandmother, my great aunt, my son and my husband.”
Another lesson the folks here are learning is that of a helping hand.
“We are here because there’s a great need here in Laplace,” said Ethan Forhetz of Convoy of Hope. “We heard about it, we partner with churches very often and we make this happen.
That was Convoy of Hope and there were others.
“We ready at any given time,” said Brian Spice of Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. “We have a warehouse that has six, eight, 10 truckloads ready at any given time. We call them, let them know and they send it in to that location.”
While the governments and the public utilities are all saying that they’ve got assessments to do these faith based organizations have jumped right in helping people but when you ask the folks here in Laplace what help they really need the answer is simple – “Lights!”
In spite of their need, the people here have kept their sense of humor.
“Trying to cook is not a challenge,” said Harris. “I have propane but these folks here want beans and steaks, and that ain’t about to happen (laughs).”